An Act of Friendship
by GrandeVanillaSkimLatte
Summary: Before they were lovers they were friends. RonHermione.


_A/N - Written in response to the Twin Exchange Monthly Challenge, the prompts I chose to use being Pie and the quote 'Is that ... maple syrup?' Special thanks to WeasleyForMe for reading over it. I hope you enjoy my first foray into the world of canon.  
_

* * *

An Act of Friendship

* * *

It was early morning, barely dawn, when Hermione woke to quietly muttered curses just outside their tent door in the Forest of Dean. Frowning, she knew not to be too alarmed; the uncensored noise was not threatening, merely frustrated, and undoubtedly belonged to Ron.

Pulling her scratchy woollen blanket around her shoulders, she hardly spared the snoring Harry a glance as she got up to investigate. She reset her features into a scowl, still not quite up to forgiving him for abandoning them and pushed passed the zipper, ready to pretend she was just getting some water, not infact spying on whatever had him cursing so profusely.

His naked back, meters from the tent's opening had her faux scowl dropping and caused her whole body to stop. Whatever she had been expecting at this time of day had most definitely not been a half naked Ron, towel drying his hair after a morning dip. She turned a furious shade of red, utterly embarrassed and spun on her heel, ready to pretend she had never gotten up in the first place.

"Hermione?" Ron called, having already seen her. Hermione closed her eyes but did not turn around.

"Yes?" she asked, her icy tone ruined by the slight tremble in her voice.

"I … that is to say, um … could you give me a hand?" he stuttered, causing her eyes to snap open. He hadn't asked her for anything in the weeks since he had returned. Infact he had given her such a wide berth, she was beginning to wonder if her cool demeanour had ruined whatever relationship/friendship had been between them before … well before everything had happened.

"With what?" she asked, dropping her act and turning to look at him.

Ron's eyes seemed to light up at the first civil words she had spoken to him since he had come back. Hermione had to stop her lip from trembling at the tremendous guilt that assaulted her, reminding herself that he deserved any ill treatment he got.

Rather than answer her, he gestured up to his hair, now almost brushing his shoulders, and the mess he seemed to have gotten it in. He made a grimace and held out a comb in offering.

"I … I'm not used to it being this long, could you … that is, do you think …" he trailed off awkwardly, his face going red too.

"I can try and cut it," Hermione offered, "if you want," she added quickly, stopping a silly grin that threatened to form on her face when he almost sagged in relief.

"That would be great; I don't know how you girls manage with so much hair! I mean not you, since you don't really brush …" he trailed off again, realising he was in dangerous territory.

Hermione did grin this time. His comments, so relaxed and familiar, and not the careful words of the last few weeks made everything seem suddenly so normal.

"It's okay, I don't understand how they do it either. I gave up on mine years ago," she explained, taking the comb out of his hand and kneeling behind him, attempting to make the whole thing look casual, when inside her heart was pounding.

"Well I can bloody understand why," he muttered, sitting still as she used the teeth of the comb to part his damp hair down the middle. "Besides, I like the way your hair is … it suits you." This caused them both to blush and Hermione's hands to stall.

"Thank you," she whispered after a moment. Ron cleared his throat uncomfortably as she resumed her ministrations.

They remained silent while she combed the messy tangles from his hair, tongue between her teeth as she concentrated. Ron watched the sun slowly begin to rise and tried not to flinch as she hit snag after painful snag.

"There, all done," she murmured a few silent minutes later, smoothing down his cowlick in what he could only describe as an affectionate manner. He resisted the urge to sigh at her soft touch and had to bite his lip when her hands left him altogether.

"You know, the length kind of suits you," she said, sitting back on her haunches as he spun to look at her.

"You think?" he asked, his hands instinctively going to his now smooth hair, playing with the ratty ends.

"Yes, I don't think we need to do anything drastic, just a small trim and it would be a perfectly acceptable hair style … quite dashing infact," she told him and blushed as soon as the words were out.

"All right then," he agreed, grinning from ear to ear at her confession. Hermione lifted her wand but stopped the moment she went to flick it, frowning.

"What?" he asked as his own grin slid from his face, not liking her look at all; he much preferred her smiling and blushing.

"I … I don't know any spells to cut your hair," she confessed, looking angry and upset all at the same time. Ron looked at her shattered expression for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"Is that all?" he asked, falling back on his elbows as the sun washed over both of them, causing his hair to light up like a flame.

"Is that all?" she almost screeched.

"Nobody expects you to know every spell in the world, Hermione." He was still grinning at her complete overreaction.

"Some do," she pouted, reaching down to pull her beaded handbag from its hiding place in her sock, avoiding his gaze the whole time.

"True, but not me," he replied, placing a finger under her chin and looking her in the eye. Hermione smiled sadly, and turned her cheek into his warm palm. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply before pulling away and unclipping her bag, trying not to make things awkward once again.

"I knew I packed them in here," she said happily, pulling a pair of scissors from her bag.

"What didn't you pack in there?" he asked sarcastically, turning his back on her once again and waiting for her to start. He watched the sun rise higher and higher in the sky as she carefully trimmed the ends off his hair, shivering each time her soft hands brushed against his naked skin. She didn't move away like before when she was finished, instead she let her hands drop to his shoulders and her head to rest against his.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you this, but I missed you while you were gone," she whispered in his ear, moving her hands down to his biceps and giving them a friendly squeeze.

"I missed you more," he whispered back, afraid that if he spoke any louder it might break the spell. He leant slowly back into her warmth and she welcomed him by wrapping her blanket around his shoulders, sharing her body heat.

"More than what?" she teased.

"Mum's blueberry pie," he sighed, earning a slap against the arm before they both fell into contented silence. He lost himself in the feel of her, letting her massage the tension from his shoulders as the sun finally breached the line of the trees and the rest of the forest woke.

"Do you want me to teach you that spell?" he asked, as a flock of rainbow birds shot directly into the sky.

"The hair cutting spell?" she asked, pulling back to look at his face.

"Yes, I learnt it from Mum," he told her, feeling a little bit smug that he knew something she didn't.

"Sometimes you can be the sweetest person I know Ron Weasley," she smiled, pulling her blanket away and getting a firm grip on her wand. Ron smiled in return and got to his feet, offering her his hand. Happiness spreading across his chest like the morning sun, and he knew that he and Hermione were going to be okay.

* * *

Harry woke up to hear laughing voices just outside the tent door and smiled as he got up. It was about time his best friends made up. Slipping his blanket around his shoulders he jumped out of bed to see what had them laughing so hard.

He frowned as he pulled back the zipper and saw Ron standing behind Hermione, his arms wrapped around her middle as he guided her wand toward a small hairy object on the ground. Harry watched the wand movements as they changed the hair into Mohawk and then a bob before a bottle appeared.

"Is that … maple syrup?" he asked, breaking their concentration. Ron and Hermione jumped guiltily from each other, looking at Harry a moment before they all dissolved into gales of laughter.

* * *

_Please Review! _

_Don't forget to vote for my fic in the Twin Exchange 'Fic of the Month' Poll. The link to that profile can be found on my own profile. Thankyou!_


End file.
